U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,157 (G D Searle & Co.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses certain generic definitions of phenyl-substituted dioxo-alkenes and substituted derivatives thereof which are said to possess activity as inhibitors of leukotriene biosynthesis. The compounds are proposed as agents against diseases and conditions associated with leukotrienes, such as allergic conditions, inflammatory conditions, certain skin disorders, hyperalgetic conditions and coronary vasoconstriction.
European Patent Application No. EP-A-0402469 (Terumo K. K.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses certain generic definitions of catechol compounds which are said to possess activity as inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase in leukotriene biosynthesis. The compounds are proposed as agents against diseases and conditions associated with leukotrienes, such as nephritis, hepatitis, rheumatism and gastric ulcers, as well as allergic diseases such as asthma and rhinitis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,716 (Warner-Lambert Company), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses certain generic definitions of diarylalkanoids which are said to possess activity as lipoxygenase inhibitors. The compounds are proposed as agents for treating a disease such as allergy, asthma, arthritis, psoriasis, acne, inflammation, pain, ulcerogenic, or cardiovascular disorders.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,315 (The University of Sydney), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses certain generic definitions of phenylalkanols which are said to provide for treatment or prophylaxis of pain by action on sensory nerves and/or through anti-inflammatory and/or through neurokinin inhibitory action (column 6, lines 31 to 36).
US Patent Application No. 2006/0148830 (Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd), corresponding to WO-A-2004/031118, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses certain generic and specific compound definitions which are said to engage in lysophosphatidic acid receptor bonding and antagonism and hence are useful for prevention and/or treatment of diseases such as urinary system disease, carcinoma-associated disease, proliferative disease, inflammation/immune system disease, disease by secretory dysfunction, brain related disease or chronic disease. Examples 34 and 35 of this prior art describe the preparation of 2-[4-[3-oxo-5-phenyl-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)-pentyl]-phenoxy]-benzoic acid benzyl ester and 2-[4-[3-oxo-5-phenyl-2-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)-pentyl]-phenoxy]-benzoic acid. However, the prior art provides no biological data for these compounds, and there is no suggestion that any compounds similar to them would have activity. The very highly extrapolated generic definitions, apparently constructed purely for the purpose of giving formalistic legal “unity” to the claims for patent purposes, cannot be said to hold out any credible promise of activity, or at least possibly outside a limited extrapolation from the four compounds that were biologically tested for EGD-2 antagonistic activity, namely the compounds of Examples 2(1), 2(4), 3(33) and 8(1), none of which is a dioxo compound of the type with which the present invention is concerned.
In addition, Surh, Y. J., Food Chem. Toxicol., 1091-1097, 40(8), (2002); Kiuchi, F et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull, 387-391, 40 (1992); and Mukhopadhay, A. et al., Agents and Actions, 508-515, 12(4) (1982) report anti-inflammatory activity in an number of dioxo-alkanes. The disclosure of each of these publications is incorporated herein by reference.
Picker et al., Aust. J. Chem., 29, 2023-2036 (1976), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 1-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-5-phenylpentane-1,3-dione and 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylpentane-1,3-dione.
Xue et al., Synlett, 19, 2990-2992 (2005), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 3-acetyl-4-(4-nitrobenzoyl)-7-phenyl-heptane-2,5-dione (compound 10).
Inoue et al., Bull Chem. Soc. Japan, 62, 1601-1605 (1989), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 1,9-diphenyl-4-(3-phenylpropyl)-3,5-nonanedione (compound 3b), 1,5-diphenyl-2-benzyl-1,3-pentanedione (compound 3c), 7-methyl-4-(1-methyl-3-phenylpropyl)-1,9-diphenyl-3,5-nonanedione (compound 3e) and 1,7,9-triphenyl-4-(1,3-diphenylpropyl)-3,5-nonanedione (compound 3g).
Koo, Journal of Organic Chemistry, 26, 2440-2442 (1961), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 1-(3,6-dimethoxy-2-hydroxyphenyl)-5-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)pentane-1,3-dione.
Beam et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry, 35, 2083-2085 (1970), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 5-(6-chlorophenyl)-1-phenylpentane-1,3-dione.
Venkateswarlu et al., Journal of Asian Natural Products Research, 2, 111-120 (2000), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 4-acetyl-1,7-bis-(4-methoxyphenyl)-hept-1-ene-3,5-dione.
Zhang et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry, 71, 4516-4520 (2006), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 1,5-diphenylpentane-1,3-dione.
Hashimoto et al., Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 33, 5088-5091 (1985), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)pentane-1,3-dione.
Lampe and Smolinska, Bulletin de L'Academie Polonaise des Sciences, 11, 49-53 (1963), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 5-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenylpentane-1,3-dione and 5-(4-hydroxy-3-ethoxyphenyl)-1-phenylpentane-1,3-dione.
Flynn et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 34, 518-525 (1991), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes the preparation of 5-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenylpent-4-ene-1,3-dione.
The present invention is based on our surprising finding that certain known and novel compounds have an unexpected combination of activities which provide advantageous use in the treatment or prophylaxis of hypersensitivity, smooth muscle disorders, spasmodic conditions, allergic conditions, inflammatory conditions and/or pain such as, for example but not limited to, asthma, cough, pruritus, food intolerance, psoriasis, croup, irritable bowel syndrome, tinnitus, Meniere's disease, stress-induced ulceration or acetylsalicylic acid-induced ulceration, primary dysmenorrhea, pre-term labour, pre-term contractions, diarrhoea, gastrointestinal cramps, diverticular disease, achalasia, Hirschsprung's disease, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, myotonic dystrophy, gallstone disease, constipation, post-surgical gastroparesis syndrome, paralytic ileus, post-operative ileus, diabetic gastroparesis, bowel paresis, intestinal pseudo-obstruction, peripheral arterial disease, Raynaud's syndrome, coronary artery spasm, angina, hypertension, hypotension, vascular paresis and other vascular disorders, bladder disorders, nausea, allergic rhinitis, allergic dermatitis, inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, ileitis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, non-allergic rhinitis, oesophagitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Huntington's disease, cerebral ischemia, acute inflammatory pain, neuropathic pain, visceral pain, dental pain and headaches.
The compounds may be useful as non-pharmaceuticals, for example in foods or beverages (for example in a functional food or beverage), providing health benefits (whether for diseased or non-diseased humans or animals), for example health benefits relating to hypersensitivity, smooth muscle conditions, spasmodic conditions, the immune-system and/or pain, such as, but not limited to, the maintenance of normal gut function, as a calmative for the gut, to maintain normal breathing, to ease motion sickness and vertigo, to soothe sore throats and coughs, to ease nausea and vomiting, as an aid to maintain normal digestion, to ease upset stomachs, to warm hands and feet, to aid normal menstruation, to maintain normal blood pressure, to normalise bowel movement, to maintain a healthy immune system, to aid in the recovery from colds and flu, as a decongestant, to soothe headaches, to relieve muscle soreness, to ease mild aches and pains, to provide relief from toothache, to provide relief from mouth ulcers, to maintain healthy joints, to help limit cellulite occurrence and as an aid to weight loss.